Dead & Company paid tribute to “the biggest Deadhead in the World,” the late Bill Walton, during their Thursday night performance at Las Vegas’ Sphere.
While the Grateful Dead spinoff band performed “Fire on the Mountain,” several photos of Walton, the legendary NBA Hall of Famer-turned-broadcaster, were displayed on the video boards inside the newly built entertainment arena on the Strip.
The photos included Walton attending various Dead concerts, snaps with band members and tie-dyed number “32” — the number he wore during his college and NBA days.
Walton died Monday following a long battle with cancer. He was 71.
The tribute to the basketball icon came as the Dead & Company opened its third week of residency at the Sphere.
“The music and the basketball were the exact same thing,” Walton had said of his enjoyment of the band.
“You have a team with a goal, and a band with a song, and fans cheering because they’re happy, but also to make the players perform better, faster, and to take everybody further.”
Following Walton’s death, the band took to social media to remember their friend.
“Fare you well, fare you well, we love you more than words can tell,” Dead & Company shared in an Instagram post, saying Walton was the biggest deadhead ever and “an irreplaceable force and spirit in our family.”
Walton’s love for the band was no secret.
In his 2015 autobiography, “Back from the Dead,” he revealed that he attended over 800 Grateful Deal and Dead & Company concerts.
In the book, Walton said he went to his first Grateful Dead concert in 1971 while he was still in college, according to Fox Sports.
“Over 1000 shows and couldn’t get enough. He loved this band and we loved him,” the band said.
“We will miss our beloved friend, @BillWalton, deeply. Rest in peace and may the four winds blow you safely home.”
Some of the original band members also shared their own personal memories with Walton.
“Yo Bill, thanks for the ride,” co-founder and guitarist Bobby Weir wrote alongside a photo of the two.
“Thanks for the wonderful friendship, the years of color commentary — and the Hall of Fame existence that you wore like headlights. Bon voyage ol’ buddy. We’re sure gonna miss you — but don’t let that slow you down…”
Longtime drummer Mickey Hart said he was lucky to have known Walton.
“Bill was my best friend. He was an amazing person, singular, irreplaceable, giving, loving. He called himself the luckiest man in the world but it was us who were lucky — to know him,” Hart said.
“There are things you can replace. And others you cannot. Bon voyage, old friend, I love you.”
John Mayer, 45 — who fills in the enormous shoes left by legendary frontman Jerry Garcia for Dead & Co. — said Walton “had an eye toward the truly important stuff, the stuff we already know better than to lose sight of, but often do.”
“The climb to acceptance is steep in the Grateful Dead universe, and Bill gave me a huge lift up those stairs with his kindness, his encouragement, and his friendship,” Mayer wrote in a tribute on Instagram.
“He will be so deeply missed, but his approach to life will never be forgotten. I think it’s pretty good advice that when times get tough, everything will be okay if you just pretend to be Bill Walton. Thank you Bill.”
With Post wires
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